Servants of War: Time of Despair/Axis Timeline
Italic Bold: Point of Divergence (Alternate history) 1939 *''Khalkhin Gol, Mongolia, May 1939: Japan doesn't attack Soviet forces in Khalkhin Gol, preserving its forces in Manchuria.'' *Germany, July 1939: Germany updates its Enigma machine after realising that the Poles had cracked it. *Westerplatte, Poland, September 1939: Germany invades Poland. Britain and France subsequently declare war on Germany. Poland falls relatively quickly and the Phoney War begins. 1940 *Northern Europe, April 1940: The Phoney War is broken when Germany invades Denmark and Norway in Operation Weserübung. Denmark surrenders as soon as the invasion begins, but Norway holds on with British and French naval support. *Western Europe, May 1940: Germany invades the Low Countries, which fall quickly. Germany then attacks France through the Ardennes forest in Belgium. Britain sends an expeditionary force to aid France, but their efforts went in vain and the expeditionary force attempted an evacuation through Dunkirk, but failed because the German army moved in and capture/kills 350,000 Allied soldiers in the Battle of Dunkirk. This significantly lowers British manpower and morale. *Norway, June 1940: Norwegian forces lose the land war, and evacuate to Britain (ensuring German victory). *Vichy France, June 1940: France surrenders to Germany and is allowed to maintain a government in the south based in the spa town of Vichy. This is short-lived however, as Germany annexes Vichy France just a few days after the French surrender, capturing the French mediterranean fleet after deploying paratroopers to Toulon. *''Italy, June 1940: Italy doesn't declare war on Britain and France, until later when Germany would already occupy the Caucasus. This means Germany wouldn't need to divert troops to North Africa in a futile effort to save Italy.'' *Britain, July 1940: The Battle of Britain begins, and the Luftwaffe launches air raids against the RAF. However, Germany doesn't divert its air forces from bombing RAF airfields in Britain to bombing civilians, meaning the RAF would suffer significantly more than in our timeline. This would gradually give the Luftwaffe aerial superiority over the isles, being instrumental for Operation Sea Lion later. *''Britain, October 1940: Operation Sea Lion is initiated; Britain falls to German paratroopers, seaborne forces and Luftwaffe airstrikes. The Royal Navy retreats to the Mediterranean. Churchill leaves for Canada.'' All events after this point are alternate history. 1941 *Spain, January 1941: Spain refuses to accept entry into the Axis powers; as a result, Germany quickly conquered Spain and Gibraltar with air and naval superiority. Franco is put under house-arrest in his summer retreat, the Pazo de Meirás. *Yugoslavia, February 1941: Yugoslavia joins the Axis under Italian pressure. *Greece, April 1941: Germany and Italy coordinate an attack on Greece from their bases in Yugoslavia and Albania, respectively. Greece falls in weeks. The Luftwaffe establishes an air base there. *French Syria, April 1941: German paratroopers attack Free French Syria and capture it in weeks. *Levant, May 1941: The Luftwaffe provides air superiority to Rashid Ali's coup forces in Iraq. Turkey joins the Axis to avoid an attack. The Wehrmacht creates bases in Iraq and Turkey to soon attack the Caucasian oilfields under Soviet control. *Soviet Union, May 1941: Germany builds up its armament to prepare for Operation Barbarossa, scheduled for activation in 15th May 1941. War breaks out between the Soviets and Germany. *Russian Far East, May 1941: Japan launches a simultaneous attack on Vladivostok and Khabarovsk. *Caucasus, Soviet Union, May 1941: German forces in Turkey and Iraq move to attack the Caucasus. *Murmansk, Soviet Union, May 1941: Finland joins the Axis, and attacks Murmansk (cutting off US supplies to the USSR). *Middle East, May 1941: British forces in Africa are diverted to the Middle East to fight Axis forces in Turkey and Syria, and Iraq. *North Africa, June 1941: Italy declares war on Britain and Free France and attacks the undefended colonies in Africa. *Soviet Union, July 1941: Germany advances just like in our timeline, but doesn't pause to capture Ukraine. Baku falls, draining a significant amount of Soviet oil. Murmansk falls, cutting off the Soviets from western supplies. *Malta, July 1941: Italian forces storm into Malta after numerous Luftwaffe air raids. *Soviet Union, October 1941: Because the Siberian Divisions are preoccupied with defending against Japan, reinforcements do not come westward to protect Moscow. Artillery fire wears out Soviet forces in Stalingrad and German forces mop up the remainder of Soviet forces in the city. *Middle East, August 1941: After 2 months of fighting, British troops in Palestine and Transjordan are encircled by Turkish and German troops in the Levant and Italian troops in Egypt. The pocket retreats to Muscat and evacuates to India via the Arabian Sea. *Muscat, September 1941: Axis troops capture Muscat, which, by this time, has become deserted due to all civilians and troops fleeing to India. The Axis now has the ability to launch troopships for a possible invasion of South Asia. *British India, October 1941: Axis forces land in three different locations: Gwadar, Karachi, and Porbandar. They encounter artillery fire, but no serious coastal defences. Indian divisions rush into the coastal areas to halt the Axis advance. *Soviet Union, November 1941: German forces encircle Moscow by November. Stalin and his government is evacuated to the city of Kuybyshev (today known as Samara), and the Red Army launches a guerrilla war against Germany. German forces enter Moscow in 30th November. Army Group South moved into Central Asia and forced Afghanistan to open its borders for Axis troops. Army Group South could now invade northern India. *Siberia, December 1941: German forces storm into Kuybyshev and capture Stalin, who is then executed by hanging. The Soviet Union falls (except for Far-Eastern divisions centred in Khabarovsk) and is divided between Germany (West of and within the Ural Mountains, plus Central Asia), and Japan (Russian Far East, which is yet to be conquered). The area in the middle becomes a buffer zone known officially as the Russian Siberian Republic with its capital in Novosibirsk. *Hawaii, USA, December 1941: Japan doesn't attack Pearl Harbour. The USA doesn't have a reasonable casus belli to declare war on Japan or Germany. However, Japan still invades southeast Asia (except the Philippines). 1942: The Last Year of Fighting *Singapore, February 1942: Japan quickly captures Singapore. *Oceania, February 1942: Japanese forces in the East Indies invade Port Moresby. They then attack Australia. Despite Australia's plea to the USA for aid, the USA was too intimidated by Germany, Japan's ally, because of the loss of Britain and the annihilation of European Russia. The Axis victories prevent the USA from interfering in Australia's favour. *East Asia, March 1942: Japanese forces in mainland southeast Asia push into central China. The Kwantung Army in the North retreats south to their base in Manchuria. The Red Army Siberian divisions follow them into Manchuria. Reserves from Manchuria halt the Red Army advance. German forces in Central Asia attack Sinkiang and capture Tihwa (present-day Ürümqi). *South Asia, February 1942: Axis forces that landed in South Asia moved north and captured Lahore. Army Group South, already with an established base in Afghanistan, regrouped with the landing forces in Peshawar. Meanwhile, Japanese and Thai forces captured Burma because of the British and Indian forces busy defending against the Axis in the west. *British India, March 1942: The Axis forces pushed westward, capturing Amritsar and getting closer to Delhi. Indian forces from the south were diverted north to protect the capital, and also to the east to halt Japan and Thailand. *New Zealand, April 1942: After conquering Australia, Japanese forces paratroop into New Zealand after bombing it. *British India, April 1942: Calcutta falls to the eastern Axis (Japan, Thailand). Delhi is sieged by the Western Axis (Germany, Italy, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Yugoslavia, Turkey, Finland, Iraq). *China, April 1942: Japanese forces captured Chongking. They then capture Chengdu. Reserves from Korea push back the Soviet divisions in Manchuria in a war of attrition. Axis forces in Sinkiang launch a three-pronged offensive: against Dunhuang, Ölgii, and Delingha. *East Asia, April 1942: Vladivostok and Khabarovsk fall to Japan, resulting in the capitulation of the Red Army remnant in the Far East. Japanese forces rapidly conquer Mongolia and western China. German forces establish contact with the Japanese at the border between Sichuan and Qinghai. Chiang Kai-shek is assassinated by his own officers with a bomb due to the futile war against Japan (similar to the 20th July attempt to kill Hitler in our timeline). The remaining officers declare a surrender. *British India, April 1942: Colonial forces have been wore off after months of fighting. The British surrender and India becomes an independent buffer state between Japan and Germany. *Canada, April 1942: Canada surrenders to the Axis and extradited Churchill to Germany, where he was put in exile. *Lhasa, Tibet, September 1942: The Allied instrument of surrender was signed in 3rd September 1942 in neutral Tibet to commemorate the 3rd anniversary of the Allied declaration of war against Germany. Aftermath *Axis Council **Tsardom of Bulgaria ***Capital: Sofia ***Leader(s): ****Tsar Boris III (1918-43, died of heart failure) ****Prince Regent Kiril (1943-55), ended power in 1955 when the heir was old enough ****Tsar Simeon II (1955 since) ***Geographic Extent: Bulgaria-proper and western Thrace. **Republic of Finland ***Capital: Helsinki ***Leader(s): ****President Risto Ryti (1941-56), died in office of arthritis ****President Urho Kekkonen (1956 since) ***Geographic Extent: Finland-proper, Karelia, and the Kola Peninsula. **French State ***Capital: Paris ***Leader(s): ****Philippe Pétain (1942-51), died in office of dementia ****Pierre Laval (1951 since) ***Geographic Extent: France-proper (minus Alsace-Lorraine, Corsica, and Nord-Pas-de-Calais) and Algeria. Possessions: ****French Guiana (capital: Cayenne) ****French Mandate of Lebanon (capital: Beirut) ****French Madagascar (capital: Tananarive) ****French Protectorate of Morocco (Capital: Rabat) ****French Mandate of Syria (capital: Damascus) ****French West Africa (capital: Dakar) **Greater German Reich ***Capital: Berlin ***Leader(s): ****Führer Adolf Hitler (1933-59), resigned from office in his 70th birthday ****Führer Rudolf Hess (1959 since) ***Geographic Extent: Germany-proper, Alsace-Lorraine, Austria, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Poland, Slovenia, and Switzerland. Possessions: ****Reich Commissariat Baltic (capital: Riga) ****Reich Commissariat Belgium (capital: Brussels) ****Reich Commissariat Caucasus (capital: Tbilisi) ****Reich Commissariat Denmark (capital: Copenhagen) ****Reich Commissariat Moscow (European Russia except Karelia and Kola Peninsula) (capital: Moscow) ****Reich Commissariat Netherlands (capital: Amsterdam) ****Reich Commissariat Norway (capital: Oslo) ****Reich Commissariat Sweden (capital: Stockholm) ****Reich Commissariat Ukraine (capital: Rovno) **Kingdom of Iraq ***Capital: Baghdad ***Leader(s): Prime Minister Rashid Ali al-Gaylani ***Geographic Extent: Iraq. **Kingdom of Hungary ***Capital: Budapest ***Leader(s): ****Regent Miklós Horthy (1920-57), died of old age ****Ferenc Szálasi (1957 since) ***Geographic Extent: Hungary-proper, Carpatho-Ukraine, eastern Slovakia, North Transylvania, and southern Slovakia. **Kingdom of Italy ***Capital: Rome ***Leader(s): Il Duce Benito Mussolini ***Geographic Extent: Italian Peninsula, Sardinia, Sicily, Corsica, and Istrian Peninsula. Possessions: ****Italian Albania (capital: Tirana) ****Italian Arabia (including Yemen, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Trucial States) (capital: Jeddah) ****Italian Central Africa (including Chad and Cameroon) (capital: Douala) ****Italian East Africa (including Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia) (capital: Addis Ababa) ****Italian Greece (Greece minus western Thrace) (capital: Athens) ****Italian North Africa (including Libya, Egypt, and Sudan) (capital: Tripoli) **Kingdom of Romania ***Capital: Bucharest ***Leader(s): Conducător Ion Antonescu ***Geographic Extent: Romania (minus North Transylvania) and Moldavia. **Spanish State ***Capital: Madrid ***Leader(s): Caudillo Francisco Franco ***Geographic Extent: Spain-proper, Balearic Islands and Canary Islands. Possessions: ****City of Ifni ****Spanish Guinea (capital: Santa Isabel) ****Spanish Protectorate of Morocco (northern Morocco) (capital: Tetuán) ****Spanish Sahara (capital: Villa Cisneros) **Slovak Republic ***Capital: Bratislava ***Leader(s): President Jozef Tiso ***Geographic Extent: Slovakia minus the south and the east. **Republic of Turkey ***Capital: Ankara ***Leader(s): ****President İsmet İnönü (1938-50, 1957-62), reelection ****President Osman Bölükbaşı (1950-57, 1962 since), reelection ***Geographic Extent: Turkey. **United Kingdom of Great Britain ***Capital: London ***Leader(s): Prime Minister Oswald Mosley ***Geographic Extent: The UK (minus northern Ireland). **Kingdom of Yugoslavia ***Capital: Belgrade ***Leader(s): King Peter II ***Geographic Extent: Yugoslavia. *Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere **State of Burma ***Capital: Rangoon ***Leader(s): Head of State Ba Maw ***Geographic Extent: Burma. **Reorganised National Government of the Republic of China ***Capital: Nanking ***Leader(s): President Wang Jingwei ***Geographic extent: China-proper. **State of India ***Capital: New Delhi ***Leader(s): Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose ***Geographic Extent: India (minus all land south of Goa). **Empire of Japan ***Capital: Tokyo ***Leader(s): Emperor Hirohito ***Geographic Extent: Japanese home islands, Korea, Kuril Islands, Ryukyu Islands, and Sakhalin. Possessions: ****Australian Government-General (Australia and New Zealand, capital: Sydney) ****Ceylon Government-General (Ceylon and India south of Goa) (capital: Madras) ****East Indies Government-General (capital: Jakarta) ****Formosa Government-General (Formosa, Hainan, and Hong Kong) (capital: Taipei) ****Indochina Government-General (capital: Hanoi) ****Malaya Government-General (Malayan peninsula and Singapore) (capital: Kuala Lumpur) ****Melanesian Government General (capital: Port Moresby) ****South Seas Government Officer (Gilbert Islands and Ocean Island) (capital: Tarawa) **Empire of Manchuria ***Capital: Hsinking ***Leader(s): Kangde Emperor Puyi ***Geographic Extent: Manchuria. **Mengkiang ***Capital: Kalgan ***Leader(s): Head of State Demchugdongrub ***Geographic Extent: Inner Mongolia west of Manchuria. **Kingdom of Thailand ***Capital: Bangkok ***Leader(s): Prime Minister Plaek Phibunsongkhram ***Geographic Extent: Thailand. Category:Sub pages